If people don’t know how to do this or if it’s considered strange to do so, people are less likely to go out of their way to reduce their waste. At our university, we have special bins for recycling paper, plastic and glass. I learned that the company that collects the items in the bins makes sure that as much as possible from them gets recycled. However, not all recycling programs are as honest. For example, near our city dumpsters there are recycle bins. I found out that a lot of the time the items that people put in these recycle bins are actually just thrown in with the trash! The city unfortunately doesn’t prioritize an effective recycling program, so there is still a lot of room for growth.
I recently discovered a small chain of secondhand stores that has some really cool vintage items from the Soviet Union. The owners founded the stores to give people an opportunity to give items that they no longer need a new life. While these kinds of stores aren’t as widespread in Russia as in the US, they are becoming more popular. These stores are one of my favorite places to buy things now because I can both learn about the history of the items and help reduce waste!
